[jkrishnakj]

I will be doing the same with HDFC bank again. HDFC bank was my first corporate savings account that got opened way way back in the late 90's or so. In the last two years, the relationship with them just plummetted. I did write to them that i plan to close my savings account, my child account and though HDFC is a different entity, i will still close my home loan with them. Been 4 days and not one response from them.

I am split between ICICI or CitiBank to open a fresh savings account. I will close this in the coming week. I will anyways have to visit the HDFC bank branch to close the two savings account i have. It is going to be an interesting visit.

[INJAXN]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

I am split between ICICI or CitiBank to open a fresh savings account. I will close this in the coming week. I will anyways have to visit the HDFC bank branch to close the two savings account i have. It is going to be an interesting visit.

I would recommend Citibank for its service and simplified banking services.

I have a citibank account for 10 years now, its not a salary account any more so I have to maintain a minimum balance of 1 lakh rupees, but it can be in any form, MFs, FDs or just in normal account.

ICICI is notorious in terms of charges they put for SMS service, Card charges etc.

[vharihar]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

I will be doing the same with HDFC bank again. HDFC bank was my first corporate savings account that got opened way way back in the late 90's or so. In the last two years, the relationship with them just plummetted. I did write to them that i plan to close my savings account, my child account and though HDFC is a different entity, i will still close my home loan with them. Been 4 days and not one response from them.

I am split between ICICI or CitiBank to open a fresh savings account. I will close this in the coming week. I will anyways have to visit the HDFC bank branch to close the two savings account i have. It is going to be an interesting visit.

Switch to ICICI. I've been with them for over a decade and very happy. They charge 0 fees (for NEFT etc) for common tasks, maybe because mine is a salary account. They're also quick to uptake technology.

Let's patronize a good indian bank rather then a foreign bank, would be my suggestion.

[vDragon3]

Looking to open a savings account at Citi. As I see in their website there is only suvidha salary account. Do they have a normal savings account? And also what would be minimum balance requirement?

[PetrolRider]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Been 4 days and not one response from them.

I am split between ICICI or CitiBank to open a fresh savings account.

All banks having issues now a days due to covid-19 situations, yesterday I couldn't reach ICICI credit card customer care over phone. Give them some time before jumping ship would be my suggestion.

Originally Posted by INJAXN

I would recommend Citibank for its service and simplified banking services.

Citi bank service is very good, no doubt in that, but 1 lac minimum balance and not having a branch every where might be of some concern for many.

Originally Posted by vharihar

Switch to ICICI.
Let's patronize a good indian bank rather then a foreign bank, would be my suggestion.

ICICI has their own horror stories. We all know what Ms Kochhar did.

Originally Posted by vDragon3

Looking to open a savings account at Citi. As I see in their website there is only suvidha salary account. Do they have a normal savings account? And also what would be minimum balance requirement?

They have Citi priority and Citi gold account under non-salary category. Call them up, they have pretty good phone banking / customer care support.

[vDragon3]

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

They have Citi priority and Citi gold account under non-salary category. Call them up, they have pretty good phone banking / customer care support.

Just looking for a savings account with less NRV. I suppose priority and gold requires as minimum as 15 lakhs NRV!

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by vharihar

Switch to ICICI. I've been with them for over a decade and very happy. They charge 0 fees (for NEFT etc) for common tasks, maybe because mine is a salary account. They're also quick to uptake technology.

Let's patronize a good indian bank rather then a foreign bank, would be my suggestion.

I agree. ICICI unlike other bank does not charge for IMPS. I have had bad experience with Citibank multiple times, so advise my friends not to patronize it. There are plenty of Indian banks so unless you have compelling reasons, stay away from foreign banks.

[vharihar]

Originally Posted by Aroy

I agree. ICICI unlike other bank does not charge for IMPS. I have had bad experience with Citibank multiple times, so advise my friends not to patronize it. There are plenty of Indian banks so unless you have compelling reasons, stay away from foreign banks.

Absolutely. I've never ever had issues with ICICI and have got excellent service. Despite that if people still continue to eulogize the *phoren* brand, well, then God save us! All this "atmanirbhar" stuff can be thrown out the window if people don't have even the minimum pride and faith in domestic companies.

Not to mention, Citibank ATMs are far, far, fewer to be found than ICICI Bank ATMs.

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

ICICI has their own horror stories. We all know what Ms Kochhar did.

Sounds like an overstatement. Furthermore, I don't see whats the relevance of that. It's a white collar crime and is/will-be dealt with the way it should, it makes negligible impact on their retail business is what I feel, and so I have experienced from the time that scandal came to light.

There was a scandal regarding Wells Fargo Bank (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wells_..._fraud_scandal). Does that make it a bad bank? Absolutely not!

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

All banks having issues now a days due to covid-19 situations, yesterday I couldn't reach ICICI credit card customer care over phone. Give them some time before jumping ship would be my suggestion.

This I agree. Give them some time before you switch. Unless this is the Nth time you've had an issue with them, in which case, yes, no reason to continue to stick with them.

[Aroy]

Practically every bank has its own horror story. What we as customers are concerned with is
1. Customer service. Here ICICI shines and HDFC lags far behind.
2. Management practice. Here Citibank sits at the bottom. It has been indicted in US and there after bailed out by the administration. Mind you it was not the run of the mill fraud, but Money Laundering. Drug related transaction etc.
3. Safety of deposits. Here Indian banks are much better. Foreign banks can and do collapse dragging their investors and depositors with the. A friend lost over USD 100,000/ kept for his sons education when the US bank declared bankruptcy. At least with Indian banks we are protected to some extent.

So if an Indian bank upper management employee is caught, damage control is initiated by both the bank and the government, and barring a few stray cases the depositors are not affected in the long tem.

[ValarMorghulis]

Well, I'll share my perspective here. Between missus and I we have accounts in Citibank, HDFC, ICICI, IDBI, Yes, Syndicate & SBI bank.
1. Citibank: Both wife and I (salary) have one account. Fuss free and not many complaints. Their FD rates and credit cards are nothing to talk about though. Have zero FDs and one credit card. Need to close wife's account.
2. HDFC: Both wife (salary) and I have one account here as well. My savings/ salary account since I started working in 2009 (only savings now). Also have a HDFC security account and have multiple FDs and have an RM (who seems useless TBH). Wife has a Regalia credit card which was mainly for airport lounges. No credit card for me. Was looking for a Diner's black but where will I use it in the present time?
3. ICICI: Wife had her first salary account and it is now a savings account. Decent bank with no fuss. Good FD rates (on par with HDFC).
4. IDBI: Had a salary account and is now savings. Absolutely useless IMO. Need to close this.
5. Yes: Luckily I transferred all my FDs from this to either HDFC or SBI before they froze everything. A friend got trapped during the mess but he is OK now. He has also opened an SBI account.
6. Syndicate: Absolutely worst in the bunch. Had an edcation loan during an undergraduate year which was closed wayy back. Once I had requested them for netbanking and they told me to send an application and wait 6 months. Withdrew all amount. Have lost access to it. Must be dormant.
7. SBI: Have a savings and another joint account. Feel this is the most reliable one in terms of failure against collapses. Home loan is at 8.6% (a rate which they don't seem to be decreasing). Reliability results in poor FD rates and high handed attitude of the banking staff. I once requested an education loan and had not returned until this year when I requested for a locker. Nope. Not going for a loan/ credit card or a locker now. All transactions are through the internet.

Bottom line, if you have to, switch either to ICICI or HDFC. They are reliable and decent. Citibank is good but offers poor benefits. SBI is still a sarkari babu bank. Reliable but arrogant.

[daredevil]

Originally Posted by vharihar

Switch to ICICI. I've been with them for over a decade and very happy. They charge 0 fees (for NEFT etc) for common tasks, maybe because mine is a salary account. They're also quick to uptake technology.

Let's patronize a good indian bank rather then a foreign bank, would be my suggestion.

I am ICICI customer for over 17 years. I have savings cum salary account with them. I also have Home Loan with them. They are very customer friendly. In these last 17 years, I have to hardly visit their branch in person. Most of the things can be done online or via phone. I have had to deal with them when I was out of India and the experience has been very good.

[N.A.GTC]

Originally Posted by vharihar

Absolutely. I've never ever had issues with ICICI and have got excellent service. Despite that if people still continue to eulogize the *phoren* brand, well, then God save us! All this "atmanirbhar" stuff can be thrown out the window if people don't have even the minimum pride and faith in domestic companies.

Not to mention, Citibank ATMs are far, far, fewer to be found than ICICI Bank ATMs.



Sounds like an overstatement. Furthermore, I don't see whats the relevance of that. It's a white collar crime and is/will-be dealt with the way it should, it makes negligible impact on their retail business is what I feel, and so I have experienced from the time that scandal came to light.

White collar crimes can often bring down entire banks. Anyway, there is relevance. If the argument to go in favour of one bank as opposed to another is that it's Indian (and therefore, better for the economy/society/nation/whatever), one necessarily has to see where the money is going, how it's going to be used. One cannot simply appeal to an argument of betterment of society, while completely writing off the negative effects on the society as "irrelevant".

That being said, the primary focus for a customer should always be to see where their interest lies - what is good for them. Free market, acting on your own interests, equilibrium and all that capitalistic crap, no?

And there are ample reported issues in customer service and processing issues with ICICI as well, including some in my immediate family. There's a reason Tanmay Bhatt called it the "private sarkaari bank" recently.

Point being: people should focus on what bank provides best services to them (and what they believe, from their research, would best suit this goal). This decision should not be based on the factor of which country the bank belongs to. That's just "irrational" thinking (ad I'm using that in the economic sense of the term).

[NPV]

I got this text message from the bank. What's happening ? What is the "threshold" that they're referring to for cash withdrawals ?

Dear customer, with effect from 1 July 2020, TDS at applicable rate will be deducted on cash withdrawals above threshold amount. Kindly submit self-declaration of income tax returns filed. In the absence of self-declaration, it will be considered as income tax not filed for previous years and tax will be deducted accordingly.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by NPV

I got this text message from the bank. What's happening ? What is the "threshold" that they're referring to for cash withdrawals ?

Here are the details from Financial express

"Time to go cashless? TDS, other charges to make cash withdrawals more expensive
By: Amitava Chakrabarty | Published: June 25, 2020 2:56 PM
The government has tightened the provision under Section 194N by lowering the original threshold of cash withdrawal from Rs 1 crore to Rs 20 lakh to levy 2 per cent TDS.
TDS on cash withdrawal, charge on ATM withdrawal, cashless economy, digital economy, cash withdrawal to become expensive, charges on ATM withdrawal above Rs 5000, limit on free ATM withdrawals
A RBI appointed committee has recommended an increase in inter-change charges for all ATM transactions over Rs 5,000.
Drawing cash is set to become increasingly expensive as, according to a report, a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointed committee has recommended an increase in inter-change charges for all transactions over Rs 5,000 carried out on automated teller machines (ATMs) across the country, while the provisions under Finance Act, 2020 have been tightened to increase the tax deducted at source (TDS) on high value withdrawals from July 1, 2020 for those who have not been filing income tax returns (ITRs).

The government has tightened the provision under Section 194N in the Income Tax Act, 1961 by lowering the original threshold of cash withdrawal from Rs 1 crore to Rs 20 lakh to levy 2 per cent TDS, while withdrawal above Rs 1 crore will attract a TDS of 5 per cent for those who have not filed their ITRs for the past three years.

NOTE to MODS
The bold part is the quote, to differentiate it from normal post

[abhi.modi05]

I'm surprised to see no one talking about Kotak Mahindra bank here. Good bank, on par with all the services major banks provide. I have a salary account and a credit card with them. Though I've not used any other bank to compare it with, but mostly I am satisfied with it.
Is it only me or am I missing something here?